The Brightest Skies Are Always Foreshadowed by Dark Clouds

The following sample essay on The brightest skies are always foreshadowed by dark clouds” –Harriet Jacobs. This tells us that life is always going to give us a challenge but at the end of the challenge there will be a great reward or something good waiting. The first chapter of the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ written by William Golding in 1953 represents the beginning of how World War II had started, at the start everything is fine going smooth and good then slowly the problems arrive.

The novel’s introduction establishes the idea of young boys crashing on to the island where there are no rules, society or signs of life other than theirs. William Golding shows foreshadow of different problems in chapter one through the use of imagery, vivid description and other different styles.

Dark imagery is shown when Ralph and Piggy first meet. The place is described as ‘the ground beneath them was a bank covered with coarse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of “fallen” trees, scattered with “decaying” coconuts and palm saplings.

’ Although there is no fear shown within the boys the use of negative aspects to describe the island indicate that there will be something to fear. The words “fallen” and “decaying” can be seen to foreshadow the idea of camaraderie that was built between the boys to break down and cause chaos on the island. The author’s intention here is to epitomize how there were countries before the war that were allies but slowly their friendship came to an end because of either misunderstandings or because of the war.

Get quality help now

RhizMan

Verified

Proficient in: Other

4.9 (247)

“ Rhizman is absolutely amazing at what he does . I highly recommend him if you need an assignment done ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Violent imagery is shown once again when Ralph decides to go swim. When he starts to swim in the lagoon he describes the water temperature to piggy as ‘the water was warmer than his “blood”.’ Implications of blood suggests the concept of war, violence or sinister acts of murder. This foreshadow the murders of Piggy and Simon which are seen later in the novel. Here William Golding is signifying the killing of World War 2, where a lot of people were killed in cold blood due to hatred, misunderstandings and violence.

Another instance of foreshadow taking place is when Jack is introduced. His first appearance is at the assembly when Ralph blows the conch, he strides in with confidence leading his choir group, basically radiating authority. His attitude and entrance foreshadow the authority he will later take on, when he leaves Ralph’s group to become chief of his own. It also shows us his love of authority and his belief that he deserves it. This technically foreshadows that Jack isn’t content with only being in charge of the hunters, which we will see as he chafes against Ralph’s authority to go ahead and become a chief himself. The author’s intention here is to create a representation of how the elections took place before World War 2, like Hitler’s election. Hitler lost the election in 1932, but when he became chancellor in 1933 he forced his way into dictatorship for the country, persuading people that the Jews were bad and had to be killed.

Overall William Golding was able to foreshadow the conflict using styles such as; dark imagery like the time when Ralph goes swimming, characterization of the characters like Jack and how he was very confident and has an authoritative aura, violent imagery of when Ralph goes swimming and he describes the water to be ‘warmer than his blood’ in the first chapter to foreshadow upcoming conflicts in the novel. In my opinion William Golding has effectively given hints to the readers to show the upcoming conflicts and problems. This brings in interest for a reader to continue reading the book to find out what conflicts will come up as they connect each hint given to come to a conclusion of what will happen. William Golding has effectively connected the book to the way he faced the events of World War 2 so that future readers can get a representation of how the war had taken place.